Song of the Year 1978

Billy Joel, Just the Way you Are

Just The Way You Are is a song Billy Joel wrote for his first wife. Shortly after it transitioned him into a star, he divorced and has not preformed it since. Billy Joel went on to share the title of world's most popular piano players with Elton John who recently toured together. Billy Joel website

Billboard Top 40 of 1978

1. Shadow Dancing, Andy Gibb
2. Night Fever, Bee Gees
3. You Light Up My Life, Debby Boone
4. Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees
5. Kiss You All Over, Exile
6. How Deep Is Your Love, Bee Gees
7. Baby Come Back, Player
8. (Love Is) Thicker Than Water, Andy Gibb
9. Boogie Oogie Oogie, A Taste Of Honey
10. Three Times A Lady, Commodores
11. Grease, Frankie Valli
12. I Go Crazy, Paul Davis
13. You're The One That I Want, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
14. Emotion, Samantha Sang
15. Lay Down Sally, Eric Clapton
16. Miss You, Rolling Stones
17. Just The Way You Are, Billy Joel
18. With A Little Luck, Wings
19. If I Can't Have You, Yvonne Elliman
20. Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah), Chic
21. Feels So Good, Chuck Mangione
22. Hot Child In The City, Nick Gilder
23. Love Is Like Oxygen, Sweet
24. It's A Heartache, Bonnie Tyler
25. We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You, Queen
26. Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty
27. Can't Smile Without You, Barry Manilow
28. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late, Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams
29. Dance With Me, Peter Brown
30. Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad, Meat Loaf
31. Jack And Jill, Raydio
32. Take A Chance On Me, Abba
33. Sometimes When We Touch, Dan Hill
34. Last Dance, Donna Summer
35. Hopelessly Devoted To You, Olivia Newton-John
36. Hot Blooded, Foreigner
37. You're In My Heart, Rod Stewart
38. The Closer I Get To You, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
39. Dust In The Wind, Kansas

Top Albums of 1978

Music News 1978

Andy Gibb Shadow Dancing

Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees were on top of the world as the DISCO fad crested in 1978. From it's mid Seventies beginnings with Donna Summers, the Jacksons and Barry White it was not until the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta that disco became so such a part of our culture that even the bad boys of rock, the Rolling Stones had a mega hit with their Disco tune Miss You. The shallow music accompanied by shallow lyrics preformed by shallow musicians in white Leisure suits became reviled by 1980. Disco music defined the Seventies with America's top cultural writer Tom Wolfe named it, "The Me Decade". The history of Disco at Wiki

Rock & Roll 1978

The Cars - You're All I Got Tonight

Back to basic rock has is named New Wave and The Cars are come riding in from Boston on the top of the wave with Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes, Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr and David Robinson. The Cars at Rolling Stone

Cheap Trick Surrender

Cheap Trick became popular with its unique injection of punk rock into pop melody. Lead singer Robin Zander, the crazy guitar guy Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson on base and Bun E. Carlos on drums. Cheap Trick still at it.

Heavy 1978

The Clash - I fought the Law

As serendipity would have it, along side Disco was Punk. The British Punk band The Clash rose to the top. Lead man Joe Strummer and band members Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Nicky Headon became "The only Band that Matters". Rolling Stone Magazine said they were the best group of the Eighties and the 30th of all time. The Clash Hall of Fame

Rhythm & Blues 1978

Albert Collins - live Jam

Houston, Texas born blues guitarist Albert Collins was known as The Iceman and the master of the Telecaster (Fender). He had a feel for jump blues and was big influence upon such artists as Eric Clapton, Ron Wood and George Thoroughgood. He did well on the road playing with the biggest stars in music. Many remember him most for his scene in a Chicago Blues Bar in the 1983 movie Adventures in Baby Sitting. The Albert Collins Page.

Folk Rock 1978

Dire Straits Sultans of Swing

Dire Straits - British rock band led by by Mark Knopfler included his younger brother David Knopfler, John Illsley on bass guitar and Pick Withers playing drums. Their sound became a bit hit in the United States and the Album went platnim. The Mark Knopfler Page

Country & Western 1978

Dolly Parton Its All Wrong But It's All Right

Big year for Dolly Parton who won the CMA award for best entertainer, a Grammy for best country performance and a cover story for Playboy magazine..It was the year she also gained popularity with some pop disco tunes from her album Heartbreaker. Dolly Parton